


In Which Orpheus is Pretty and Eurydice is Mad About That

by thepinballer



Series: Sing a Song For Me [4]
Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Pining, oh is this a forest? cuz there’s a whole lotta, oh we WRITING writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 00:21:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19756768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepinballer/pseuds/thepinballer
Summary: okay so basically miss persephone ma’am has a record label and she will make orpheus a Famous Little Boy. hades owns a Big Boy Company and eurydice is his personal assistant and she’s dying always. probably best if u read the first+second fic in this series to understand but even if u don’t u can probably catch on





	1. Chapter 1

“Eurydice?”

She looks up from her phone, staring owlishly at the young man. He looks so different in the daylight compared to the moody party lights of Persephone’s penthouse. The nice button up shirt has been traded for a ratty T-shirt, and a red bandana is tied loosely around his neck. The suspenders, she notes, remain. His hair is a bit of a mess, stopping just before his eyes. With the harsh afternoon sunlight bringing attention to all his features, she understands why Persephone felt the urge to give him soup. The first word that comes to mind is ‘gaunt.’ Every aspect of his face has a sharpness to it. Well, not his eyes. His eyes are still gentle and kind, and he has this cute little nervous smile, and  _ fuck, _ he’s saying something.

“Sorry, can you repeat that?” she asks, and inwardly cringes. She’s stuck in her phone answering voice.

“It’s, uh, I’m Orpheus. From the party?”

He introduces himself as if he hadn’t been the main act of the whole event. Eurydice smiles and tucks her phone into her pocket while saying, “I remember. You’re soup boy. What’re you doing here?” She has to hold back a laugh at how quickly he blushes. He pushes a hand back through his hair, really only succeeding in messing it up more.

“I don’t know. Sometimes I just have to walk, and I end up wherever I’m supposed to be. Which right now, I guess, is here,” he responds, and the momentary lip bite he does at the end really just kills Eurydice on the spot. Not that she likes him, as it would be very stupid to like somebody just because they could say some pretty words.

His nervous laugh pulls her out of her thoughts. “I guess that’s a little dumb, huh? What, uh, what’re you doing here?” She’s usually reluctant to answer such a question, as nobody needs to know her personal life, much less some random man, but his tone is so genuine. It also helps that, if needed, she could absolutely break him like a toothpick.

“I work here.” She nods towards the building next to them. Orpheus tilts his head up, taking in the full building, while Eurydice takes in his very defined jawline. He is hot, but in a rat sort of way. 

Ugh. She barely knows him. That’s weird.

“That’s a big building,” Orpheus states, as if the city isn’t made of them. He does have a bit of a small town charm with his naïve energy and docile tone now that she thinks about it. She’s a little mad that he keeps making her smile. “You’re Mr. Hades’s assistant, aren’t you?”

Eurydice shrugs. “Yeah. I mean, I’m basically a secretary. Take notes, keep dates, make sure the boss doesn’t scare the life out of everyone he meets.” Orpheus laughs at the last part, and her heart flutters. He starts to reply, but gets cut off by the alarm on her godforsaken phone. “Shit. I have to go. My break’s over.” She pushes herself off of the planter she was leaning against, and pulls her phone out to stop the alarm. She feels a hand against her arm, and immediately recoils. Orpheus seems as startled as she is.

“Wait. Uh. I’m sorry. Are you free tonight? Like, around eight?” There’s a pleading tone in his voice, like he’s pushing down desperation.

She lets her shoulders relax. He’s a sweet boy. “Depends.”

He awkwardly grabs at his pockets, starting to blush again, before pulling out a carefully folded flyer. “Uh, I’m playing here tonight. It’s nothing big or fancy, but you should come.”

She unfolds the flyer. The bar is almost painfully far from her apartment, but Orpheus has this sweet look in his eyes and his little smile is just really fucking cute and she can’t say no to him.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll be there.”

His whole face lights up, and he seems to stand a little straighter. “Awesome! Awesome. I’ll see you there!”

Eurydice smiles at him as they part ways, and maybe she lingers a bit in the doorway to watch him walk off. Maybe she occasionally takes the flyer out her coat pocket to look at the somewhat shitty photo of Orpheus printed on it. Maybe she finds his Instagram, but doesn’t follow because what if he thinks she’s weird? Maybe she thinks he’s really pretty and sweet and unlike anybody she’s ever met. 

Maybe she has a crush, but that doesn’t mean she’s completely fallen for some poet with nothing more than pretty words. 


	2. Chapter 2

Eurydice stands in her cramped bedroom, staring at two nearly identical shirts laying on her bed. It’s not a big deal. It is  _ not  _ a big deal. Why should she try to impress Orpheus? He’s just some gaunt, raggedy, tall, guitar-playing pretty boy. She knows he won’t care if she wears a black T-shirt or a black tank top. She knows that it doesn’t matter if she cuffs her jeans or not. Why is she agonizing over this?

She grabs the tank top.

Eurydice hadn’t taken Orpheus for the bar type, but as she enters the building, she understands. She’s sure everything in the bar is older than she is. Chairs and tables are mismatched, and the mirror behind the bar has a worn frame painted in a pretty seafoam color. There’s a chalkboard near the door, listing different specials. It’s not that crowded, but the bar is filled with chatter nonetheless. Everyone seems to know each other, and everyone seems to be sitting near the stage. She really doesn’t want to get in the middle of that.

Eurydice orders a drink before slinking off to a table behind the crowd- not quite in the back, but far away enough for comfort.

It’s 8:12 by the time Orpheus makes it to stage. Eurydice holds her breath. He’s still wearing the suspenders and the bandana, this time with an even rattier shirt- she’s not sure how it’s holding on- and intensely skinny jeans. He does not look cute. In fact, he looks very dumb. Yeah. That’s it. Dumb.

She takes a long drink.

“Uh, hey guys!” Orpheus seems much more comfortable onstage here than at the party, though he still clings to his guitar. The audience whoops back, the energy bright and friendly. “Sorry I’m a little late, I, uh, I ripped my shirt. Hah. Uh, thank you Nicolaos for covering the bar tonight!” A louder cheer rips through the audience, and the bartender waves over to Orpheus. Somebody shouts an ‘I love you!’ to Nicolaos. Orpheus laughs lightly and good god, the boy is like sunshine. He keeps conversing with the audience, though it really feels more like a group of friends just hanging out. Eurydice quickly realizes that he, in fact, works at this bar, and most of the people in the audience are, in fact, regulars at this bar.

It’s probably 8:30 when he starts his first song- Eurydice doesn’t check. She heard him at the party, but this is different. His posture is terrible, but he’s clearly much more relaxed. She’s not hiding out in the kitchen, trying to eat as much as she can before Hades wrangles in her to talk to some CEO on his behalf. She’s still not quite in the family, but fuck, Orpheus’s voice is inviting.

At some point, he sits down on the stage. “I ran out of water,” he says with a laugh, receiving a couple friendly jeers. A very tall man holds out a cup, which Orpheus gladly accepts. He recoils after a sip, and laughs again. “Proteus, this- this isn’t water.” There’s more yelling from the crowd, and Eurydice shrinks into her chair. She’s not even sure if he knows he’s here- did he remember that he invited her? He’s so pretty, he must’ve invited others.

She gets up to get another drink. She gets why they love Nicolaos.

He’s on his eighth or ninth song when he finally looks at Eurydice. His smile is very big, and very cute, and Eurydice is very mad about that. He throws her a little wink before continuing, which is something she didn’t know he’d have the confidence to do.

At the end of the show, Orpheus carefully packs his instruments up before sliding down into the audience. He’s almost instantly mobbed by his friends. Eurydice waits a few minutes. She might just leave. He seems really happy. God, his smile is fucking cute. Why did she sit in the back? That was weird. She grabs her phone from the table, ready to leave, when she hears a voice cut through the chatter.

“Eurydice!”

She turns around quickly, suppressing a smile as Orpheus stops in front of her. His hands flutter at his side for a moment before he puts his hands in his pockets. “Hey,” she says, and mentally hits herself on the head. Really?  _ Really? _ A boy sings the prettiest music ever sung and all she can say is ‘hey.’ And yet, he still smiles like she gave him a ticket to heaven.

“You made it,” he says, and there’s an edge of awe in his voice that makes Eurydice’s heart flutter. He glances up and down and offers an awkward smile. “I like your jeans.”

She knew it was a good idea to cuff them. “I like yours too. You’re really good, you know that?” She hates that the best compliment she can come up with is ‘really good.’ Why is she so bad with words right now?

Orpheus runs a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his eyes. Shit, he has pretty eyes. Shit. “Ah, thank you!” His voice wavers. She wonders if that wink drained all his confidence reserves. “Are you, uh, are you hungry?” She hasn’t really thought about it, but she hasn’t eaten since lunch. She checks her phone. It’s 10:43. He keeps rambling before she can answer. “I mean, I just- I know the show went a little long and I didn’t see you eat anything, and I’m also really hungry. I mean, I don’t know if you’re hungry, but maybe if we are we can get dinner or something?”

He’s out of breath by the time he finishes, his lips slightly parted. She stares back at his eager eyes for a moment before tilting her head down to laugh. “If you know anywhere that’s open, I’ll join you.” He breaks out into another big smile, and she struggles to tell herself that she’s fine without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no chapter titles we die like men

**Author's Note:**

> hmu @damondaunnodyke on tumblr


End file.
